Means for checking the speed of revolving doors



Aug- 28, 1951 J. T. UNANGST` 2,565,581

MEANS FOR CHECKING THE SPEED OFREVOLVING DOORS Filed Jan. 21, 1948 Patented Aug. 28, 1951 MEANSr FORCHECKING THE SPEED O :REYOLVINGDOORS f Jubel-.Headset Biitsbyrglr, Pe- Appliauonasnuar-y 21, 194s, serial No.3,4s3

This.. invention relates vgenerally to revolving doors and particularly to means for `vintermittently checking the rotation thereof to .prevent excessive speed and the possibility'of injury resulting therefrom.

Revolving. doors Vas now installed constitute a safety hazard to some extentgbecause of the fact that some pedestrians are capable of exerting .a greater physical force than others, coupled with the fact that doorsvary Widely in'respect to the force required to turn them. Thus there is a constant danger to users of such doors as, for example, when a person stronger or heavier than. the: average .applies his. f ullforce, to a door which:happens to. be adjusted for, easy rotation. Under such condtions, a pedestrian partly through the door may `be struck by the advance of the wing .orleaf behind him or a pedestrian .about to enter from VVthe opposite side maybe ingr it. pivotally 4mounted Lon the wings or leaves of the door. A. guide track engagealolev by the members asvthey approach the cylinder serves .to cause them to travel for ashortdistance vin a straight line While actuatingthe pistoninfthe cylinder. This is permitted by the pvotalmounting of themembers.

A V complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following'detailed description and explanation which referto the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a horizontal section through a door Ahaving the inventionapplied thereto,l takenv on a plane just above ,the top of the door, along line I-l in Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a verticalsection through the door jambs showing the door in elevation.

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal section through the piston and cylinder constituting the pneumatic check.

Figure 4 is an elevation to enlarged scale showing one of Lthe striker members.

Figure 5 is a View similarto Figure 1 showing a modification, and

f .Iiedre is drier #muerde-@sure :eshewirle the .form of .Striker member employed ndhe -modied construction.

Referrrig new in .detail tothe drdwirrgsand, for thepresent partieulrly te Figures 1 through 4, arevolving door 0 having four adiahwings orleaves 'Il is mountedfor rotationon ya vertical axislbetween arcuate jambe l2 inthe lnown manner- A pneumatic @beek 1 3 -eempridne e cylinder i-.4, a pisioni reeiproeehle thereinand a psterrred Ai6 Seeuredliheree .and merid-ing eutwardlv of. the eylirlderr .iS :moulded above the door with theextremitv er the gieten red projecting into the path of the Wings or leaves I l,

as shown. Preferably the ,eheekie reeeseed irre the Ceiling @beve the dQOl Qperrnadened by member Nieeludes e lbleek 21' pireted te he dooron a .horizontal hinge pin 22and a coop eretrle reke Dertien 23 ,riveted thereto en" .d Substantially Verdeel hinge ,rain .24- A striker tip or neer deSisrreted 25eXter1dS .upwardly frere the -yeke Derden- A Sprinek-2fr1erme1ly tends toswinguthelower portion'of block gloutwerdly eboutrhe ein 2 2 The-tiere normally bears ona circular track on the ceiling above the deer (Der Shewn), the-bleek; 2| beine thereby forced intosubstantially vertical. position against the pressure ofl spring 26.

A guide, ,trackin theferm 0f er1-inverted ebenrrel 21s. reeessed rrrdirre.eelirrenevefihe;deer @perdra The-.charred is Straight fergrhe greater portion of its length.` jlhesides thereof Y flare outwardly et rhe-eritrerlee @des indieeted er 28. The other `or exit 4envdwofY thechannel desighatedv EQ-is'ldsposed at an angle to theremainmder there@ jme' jbajsm sf the chantier slopes dgwhwarqly at "both ends .as indicated at 13u A and 3|;v lhe outer sideof'the'f'channel'hasf'a :hole therein through vvhih lthey end' ofthe". piston rod .le extends, as shownlingfigur '11 'Ifhetrack'2Ts`erves to deflect thevstrikentip 25gflrom'the cur-ved pathit"vvol-Jld-''orfriialliA tiafvrhse onw a rotation.. ofthefd orfinto :a athv'vhich is straight fora Ashort distance,

3 the door through an angle slightly greater than 90 degrees from the position in which it is illustrated, the tip 25 traverses the arc of a circle for about eighty degrees. It then enters the track 21 being guided thereinto by the aring sides at the entrance end. The block 2l, of course, swings outwardly at the bottom about pin 22 as the tip rides up the sloping bottom of the track at the entrance end indicated at 39. As the tip advances along the track, it is guided in a straight path and strikes the end of piston rod I6 with the result stated above i. e., the compression of air in the cylinder 14,' and the momentary checking of the rotation of the door.

The character of the cushioning effect exerted by the piston and cylinder may be varied, of course, by adjusting the screw I9. j

When the piston has been driven the full length of its stroke, the tip 25 enters the angularly disposedend portion 29 of the track and thus moves clear of the piston rod as the tip rides down the sloping end portion 3i of the track, the block 2i is restored to vertical position and spring 29 is compressed. The tilting of the finger necessary to conform to the path along the track 2l instead of to the arc f a circle, is permitted by the universal mounting aorded by the block 2 i and yoke portion 23. After the striker tip or the nger has cleared the end of the piston rod, the latter with piston i is restored to normal extended position by spring l1, for engagement by the iinger of the succeeding leaf and a repetition of the checking action.

It will be observed that the device described does not exert a constant drag on the door but only tends to arrest Vit slightly each time a leaf passes the air cylinder. Unless the door is given a particularly strong push, therefore, it will most probably stop at or just beyond the position of engagement with the piston rod. In this position, the door permits free entrance of the incoming pedestrian last to enter the door, yet affords the most effective closure against the weather out of doors.

The modification illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 is similar to that described above but is mounted on the ceiling above the door opening instead of being recessed thereinto. The door 32 has its leaves 33 notched or cut out as at 34 to clear the guide track 35 and pneumatic check 36. Striker members 3l pivoted to bases 38 on the leaves by vertical hinge pins 39 have upwardly extending striker ngers or tips 40 adapted to engage the end of piston rod 4I projecting from the cylinder 62 into the guide track. The fingers have springs 43 normally urging them outwardly, the interengaging portions of the fingers and their hinge bases being shaped to limit the extent of outward movement. The fingers thus swing inwardly in passing out of the exit end of the track but immediately snap outwardly under the force of the springs into position for easy entry into the track on the next approach thereto.

It Will be evident from the foregoing that the invention vprovides a simple, inexpensive and effective means for checking the speed of a revolving door at intervals during each revolution, thereby guarding against the possibility that a person going through the door will be struck by the following leaf under the force exerted by the next incoming person, aswell as the danger of pinching a person going in the opposite direction against the jamb as a result of sudden acceleration of the door.

Although I have illustrated and described but LSU a preferred embodiment and a modification of the invention, it should be understood that changes in the details of construction and arrangement disclosed may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Means for checking a revolving door havingI a plurality of radial leaves comprising a cylinder fixed above the door having a piston reciprocable therein with a piston rod secured thereto and extending outwardly from an end of the cylinder, fingers pivotally mounted on the leaves of said door adapted to engage said rod, and stationary guide means at the ceiling of the door opening adapted to :confine said fingers to a rectilinear path on approaching said road.

2. A device as dened by claim 1 wherein said ngers are pivoted on substantially vertical axes.

3. A device as dened by claim 1 wherein universal mountings for said fingers are carried by said leaves.

4. A device as defined by claim 1 wherein said stationary guide means is an inverted channel.

5. A device as dened by claim 4 wherein said channel is substantially straight for the greater part of its length and has its exit end disposed at an angle to the remainder.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 characterized by blocks pivoted on said leaves for tiltingI about horizontal axes, said fingers being pivoted on said blocks for swinging about substantially vertical axes.

7. A device as dened in claim 6 characterized vby springs normally urging said blocks to tilt upwardly.

8. Means for checking a revolving door having a plurality of radial leaves comprising a finger mounted adjacent the top of each leaf, and projecting above the top thereof, an inverted channel recessed in the ceiling above the door opening and receiving said lingers upon rotation of the door, said channel having a rectilinear portion intermediate its ends, and a cylinder recessed in the ceiling above the door opening having a piston aligned with the rectilinear portion ofthe channel and normally extending therein to contact a finger on a door leaf upon rotation of the door.

9. Means for checking a revolving door having a plurality of radial leaves comprising a iinger mounted adjacent the top of each leaf, an inverted channel fixed to the ceiling of the door opening and receiving said fingers on rotation of the door, said channel having a rectilinear por-- tion intermediate its ends, a cylinder xed to the ceiling of the door opening and having a piston in alignment with the rectilinear portion of the channel and normally extendingI thereon to contact a linger on a door leaf upon rotation of the door, and an opening in each door leaf adjacent the nger to permit passage of the channel and cylinder through the leaf on rotation of the door.

JOHN T. UNANGST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS vGraham Feb. 20, 1934 

